School Trip
by gladrags2012
Summary: The team travel to France on a normal school trip. They are going to have a week off spying. They think ! Rated T to be safe. Not actually sure yet.
1. Chapter 1

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. OK, not the most imaginative title. I couldn't think of anything else.**

"Good morning class !" announced Mr. McNab. "We are currently finalising preparations for this year's Year 11 trip to France. This is a study trip which is intended to cover geography and French language. Those of you hoping to take GCSE in either subject will be given priority if you choose to come. Madame Renard will be leading the French component. I shall be leading on Geography. Collect the application forms as you leave the class. Now, we'll begin …." Mr. McNab continued with his lesson. As soon as the visit was mentioned, Dan, Tom, Aneisha and Zoe started wondering whether this was another secret assignment being covered up with a school trip. When they collected the forms at the end of the lesson they saw that there would be a charge for attending. That didn't sound like an assignment cover.

They went down to base after lunch. "Frank, is this school trip to France a cover ?" asked Aneisha.

"Hm ? What school trip ?" asked Frank.

"I guess that answers the question then," said Tom. Frank was reading through the application form.

"Hm, it's a whole week. No, this is nothing to do with MI9. Looks like it's a regular school trip," he said, handing the form back to Aneisha.

"Can we go on it then ?" asked Aneisha. "I mean, what if there's some sort of emergency while we're away ?"

"Well, I don't see why you can't," said Frank. "I suppose it might be an issue if you all went at once. Are you likely to go ?" he asked, looking round the group.

"Do you want to go ?" Dan asked the others.

"I've never been to France !" said Zoe, looking excited. Dan smiled. She always got excited about new stuff.

"It would be nice to do an ordinary school type thing for a change," said Aneisha.

"What if we do all go ?" asked Tom. "Will MI9 let us all go together ?"

"I'll ask if you want," said Frank. "I think you could probably have a week off."

"Thanks Frank !" said Zoe, giving him a hug. Frank smiled and watched them all piling back into the lift to return to their first afternoon class.

A month later, all four teens were piling off a coach, along with a large group of their school friends. Everyone grabbed their bags and were told to get into twos before they were assigned their rooms. Tom and Dan immediately stood together, as did Zoe and Aneisha.

When Tom unpacked his bag, Dan noticed he'd packed his spy-pod and a laptop. "You've brought your spy-pod ?" asked Dan.

"Yeah, haven't you ?" asked Tom.

Reluctantly, Dan pulled out his spy-pod too, and they both laughed. "Couldn't help myself," admitted Dan.

"Know what you mean," agreed Tom. "You never know do you ?" He then pulled out a game box, an MP3 player, headphones, a digital camcorder and another electronic gizmo which Dan didn't recognise.

"Looks like you brought everything," said Dan, looking at all the electronics on Tom's bed.

"Yeah. My Mum wanted to know if I was going to spend the whole week staring at my hand !" complained Tom. "You'd think I did nothing else !"

"Well, you don't do a lot else, do you ?" asked Dan. "Why don't you have a break from the gadgets this week ?" he coaxed.

"Oh come on ! You're starting to sound like my Mum !" complained Tom. Dan held up his hands in surrender.

"OK, you do what you want. I'm going to try all the activities," said Dan. There was a knock at their door and Aneisha put her head round.

"Is it alright if we come in ?" she asked.

"Course," said Dan. Aneisha and Zoe came into the room and sat down on the boys' beds.

"The rooms are alright aren't they ?" asked Aneisha. "It's better than I expected. We've even got our own shower room."

"Yes, it's brilliant !" said Zoe, bouncing up and down on the bed. "Are you going to the disco tonight ?" she asked.

"Disco ?" asked Tom and Dan simultaneously, both reaching for the itinerary. "It says 'entertainment'," said Tom.

"Yes, it's a disco," said Zoe. "I've never danced before. Is it hard ?" The others looked at her in astonishment.

"How could you never have danced ?" asked Aneisha.

"SKUL didn't do dancing," said Zoe. They all thought about this.

Dan pondered that maybe there was one thing that Zoe would be worse at than him. He thought about it a bit more. No, probably not. She was good at everything. He sighed at the prospect of an evening of humiliation. Tom didn't look any happier.

"Oh come on guys. It'll be dark !" said Aneisha. Dan gave her a hard look. "And if you don't decide to go with Zoe, Melissa is bound to ask you," she added cheekily. Dan's eyes widened in fear.

"Zoe, would you mind coming to the disco with me ? Please ?" asked Dan a little too desperately. Zoe just smiled at him and nodded. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Erm, Aneisha, if you're going anyway, could I, you know, go with you ?" asked Tom. Aneisha gave him a huge smile and said yes. A wide grin spread across Tom's face. Dan noticed and smiled to himself. Somebody had a crush ! Not himself of course.

Mme Renard lead the group of teens to a local disco which was being opened up for them especially. "There will be soft drinks at the bar," she informed them outside. "I want only good behaviour. I will be here with Mr. McNab. Now have a good time !" she instructed them. They all looked at one another awkwardly before following her inside the building.

When they stepped inside the lights were dimmed and the DJ put on some music. Everyone instantly tried to gravitate away from the teachers. This seemed to suit them equally well and the two teachers settled themselves as far away from the speakers as they could. Zoe took Dan's hand. "Can you show me how to dance then ?" she asked. Dan gazed at her in horror.

"I'm no good at dancing !" he said. Where was Aneisha when you needed her ? Zoe looked disappointed. "Aneisha !" he called over to her. Aneisha and Tom had bought drinks and were carrying them to a table. "Aneisha, do you know how to dance ? Zoe wants me to teach her," said Dan. "I can't dance !" he said panicking.

"Dan, relax !" said Aneisha, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, you boys ! Come on Tom," she said.

"Wha' ?" said Tom, looking like a rabbit in the headlights. "I can't dance !" he said. The two girls looked at them.

"Do what I do," said Aneisha to Zoe. She swayed from side to side in time to the music and Zoe copied her. Then she started moving her feet around in time to the music and Zoe did the same. After a couple of minutes, Zoe and Aneisha were dancing freely and happily in time to the music. Dan watched with Tom. They looked at each other, took a deep breath and tried to move in time to the music. Dan watched in dismay as Zoe got better and better with each passing minute. Aneisha slowly turned away to dance with Tom, who was putting up a reasonable performance. Dan felt like an idiot. He hardly dared lift a foot off the floor for fear of losing the rhythm.

"This is fun !" Zoe shouted to Dan. The music was now loud and it was hard to hear anyone talking. Dan smiled at her. She looked so happy. He glanced around and found that they were surrounded by all their classmates on the dance floor. He felt less exposed in the middle of the crowd, and relaxing a little, he started to fall into the rhythm a bit more easily. This wasn't so bad.

Zoe kept on dancing and Dan was struggling to keep up with her when finally a slow record came on. He glanced round to see Aneisha wrapping her arms round Tom's shoulders. When he turned back, Zoe did the same to him. She must still be copying Aneisha, he thought. He pulled her up close and they swayed in time to the soft music. The music was hypnotic and he found himself staring into Zoe's eyes. Before he knew what he was doing, he'd kissed her on the lips. She looked surprised and he thought he'd made a big mistake, until she kissed him back, long and hard.


	2. Chapter 2

It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think.

_Zoe kept on dancing and Dan was struggling to keep up with her when finally a slow record came on. He glanced round to see Aneisha wrapping her arms round Tom's shoulders. When he turned back, Zoe did the same to him. She must still be copying Aneisha, he thought. He pulled her up close and they swayed in time to the soft music. The music was hypnotic and he found himself staring into Zoe's eyes. Before he knew what he was doing, he'd kissed her on the lips. She looked surprised and he thought he'd made a big mistake, until she kissed him back, long and hard._

Dan walked back to the hotel with the others, with a soppy smile on his face. They were ordered off to their rooms and to get ready for bed. It would be lights out in twenty minutes. "That was OK !" said Tom, sounding relieved as he flopped on to his bed.

"That was better than OK," said Dan as he did the same. "I'm knackered." They dragged themselves upright and got ready for bed. Mr. McNab patrolled the student's corridor preparing to tell anyone still up to go to bed. To his astonishment all the lights were already out and there wasn't a sound coming from any of the rooms. Looking pleased, he headed off to his own room. He hoped he'd get them just as tired the next day.

The following day wasn't quite as much fun as the night before. They were first taken to a snail farm. "I didn't know these places really existed," Tom whispered to Dan. "I thought it was all a big joke."

"Well, there's an awful lot of snails here," said Dan, looking squeamishly at a seething container filled with squidgy, creeping molluscs. "Don't know why you can't just keep them in a bucket," he said scathingly.

Tom looked at him sideways. "Have you ever tried putting snails into a bucket ?" he asked.

Dan looked baffled, "No, why ?" he asked, shrugging.

"Well, you come back the next day to an empty bucket, that's why," said Tom.

"I thought they only moved really slowly," said Dan.

"Yeah, but they move all the time ! Even if they move slowly, they can get out of a bucket and all the way aross the garden overnight," explained Tom. Dan looked at the snail tank, humphed and moved on.

Tom decided that unless the world became threatened by an explosion of snail power, Dan wasn't going to be paying much attention to them.

Tom found Zoe gazing into a tank of baby snails. "They're all really tiny !" she said, looking delighted. Tom guessed he'd found the opposite end of the spectrum from Dan. Dan wasn't interested in anything which wasn't going to save the world. Zoe was interested in absolutely everything. Perhaps they sort of averaged each other out. He came to Aneisha who was leaning against another tank looking a bit bored.

"I'm a bit snailed out now," she said. "There's only so much you can find out about snails."

Tom grinned. "There's still the tasting !" he suggested.

"Eugh, no way !" said Aneisha.

After the tour, they were encouraged to each eat a snail. Only a few people were brave enough to try. Roly got a round of applause for eating two. Aneisha couldn't help noticing that Roly was chewing for a very long time. Nothing would ever entice her to eat one of those things.

After a normal lunch (no snails) they were split into groups to do a language exercise in the French market. Madame Renard wanted them to find out the names of a variety of different vegetables and their prices. This kept everyone busy until it was time to gather back at the coach and return to the hotel. In the coach, Mr. McNab announced that the evening's entertainment was to go to a local show of traditional music and dance. Tom glanced at Dan. "I can't wait !" he whispered. Dan smiled back.

After dinner the teens headed to their rooms to change or just hang out. There was a knock on the boys' door and Aneisha and Zoe appeared. "You guys ready ?" asked Aneisha.

Dan looked down at what he'd been wearing all day. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said. Aneisha rolled her eyes.

"What ? I'm just going to be sitting down watching people singing stuff I don't understand and jumping around a bit," Dan said. "What am I supposed to wear ? Stripy T-shirt and onions round my neck ?" Zoe giggled and turned to go back out.

Laughing, Dan walked up behind Zoe and put a hand on each of her shoulders. He barely had time to register what happened next. Zoe spun around with a look of intense concentration on her face and kicked her leg out, hitting Dan smack in the middle of his forehead. Dan fell backwards, hitting the floor with a thump. He lay motionless with glassy eyes. For a second Tom and Aneisha stood in shock, then Zoe made a little squealing noise and put her hand over her mouth. Tom and Aneisha knelt on the floor either side of Dan and took a wrist each to feel for a pulse. "Dan ? Dan can you hear me ?" Tom asked him urgently. Aneisha looked back to Zoe as she sank to the floor in fright.

"Zoe, what happened ? Why did you hit him ?" she asked.

"I, I don't know. I think my training kicked in," stammered Zoe. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. "Oh what have I done ?" she whispered, crawling over to where Dan lay.

After what seemed like forever, Dan's eyelids flickered and he groggily lifted a hand to his head. "Oooh ! What happened ?" he groaned softly. A lump was starting to come up in the middle of his forehead. He struggled to get up. Tom and Aneisha helped him get on to his bed and lie down. "Ah my head !" moaned Dan. They heard Mr. McNab coming down the corridor. Aneisha got up and called him into the boys' room.

"Mr. McNab, Dan's had a bit of an accident. He tripped over and banged his head on the wardrobe," Aneisha told him. The teacher came into the boys' room and looked in concern at Dan.

"Dan, can you hear me ?" Mr. McNab asked him quietly. Dan nodded. "Did he lose consciousness at any point ?" Mr. McNab asked the others.

They looked at each other. "I don't think so. His eyes were open. He just looked stunned and didn't move for a bit," reported Tom.

Mr. McNab stared into Dan's eyes and asked him to focus on his finger. Dan managed to do this and follow the teacher's finger back and forth. Mr. McNab grunted in satisfaction. "No major harm done I think. It's probably best if you stay here and rest tonight though Dan. Take a couple of paracetamols and get to bed," he ordered.

"I'll stay as well Sir," offered Tom. "I don't want to leave Dan on his own," he added.

Mr. McNab nodded his agreement. "I would have asked you if you hadn't offered to be honest Tom. If he starts to feel sick or passes out you're to call the hotel staff and ask for an ambulance OK ? Don't wait for me, just do it. Are you OK to do that ?" asked Mr. McNab. Tom nodded his understanding. "I'm sure he'll be fine by the morning," Mr. McNab assured them all. "Come on girls. We're leaving in a few minutes."

Once Mr. McNab had left the room, Aneisha put her arm round Zoe. "Come on. It wasn't your fault OK ? I'm sure Dan will say the same, once he's feeling a bit more with it," she said, looking over at Dan lying on his bed. Zoe glanced behind her fearfully one last time and reluctantly left with Aneisha. Aneisha suspected that Dan would probably be happier too if Zoe wasn't in the room with him right now. She wondered what on earth had come over her !

Tom found Dan some paracetamols and a glass of water from the bathroom. After about ten minutes, he seemed to be feeling a bit better. "What happened ?" Dan asked quietly.

"I think you must have accidentally triggered some of Zoe's old defensive training," said Tom tentatively.

"Remind me not to do that again," instructed Dan. Tom grinned. That sounded more like the Dan they were used to.


	3. Chapter 3

It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think.

"_What happened ?" Dan asked quietly._

"_I think you must have accidentally triggered some of Zoe's old defensive training," said Tom tentatively._

"_Remind me not to do that again," instructed Dan. Tom grinned. That sounded more like the Dan they were used to._

They lay on their beds listening to the tramping of feet trudging along the corridor to the stairs. There was no sense of eager anticipation in the footsteps of their friends. They sounded more like they were going to dentention than a concert. "You should get kicked in the head more often," joked Tom. "Think of all the things we could miss."

"I think I get kicked quite enough as it is thankyou !" complained Dan. Dan rolled on to his side and watched Tom playing on his handset. "What are you playing ?" asked Dan.

"Level 3 ! Yes ! Get in !" crowed Tom. Dan sighed. He guessed there was some point to it. He was never going to get it though. He closed his eyes and tried to relax his body. Wow, Zoe could really kick !

Dan must have fallen asleep because he suddenly woke up in the half dark. Tom was still playing on his game station from the light of the screen. "What ?" asked Dan, confused.

"Hm ? I didn't say anything," said Tom. As he spoke a low pitched rumbling noise came up through the floor and the things on their bedside cabinets rattled and shook. "Whoa, what was that ?" said Tom, putting both hands on his bed. Footsteps ran along the corridor outside their room. The two boys looked at each other in the gloom. "Who was that ? There's not supposed to be anyone else on this floor apart from us," said Tom.

"Are the others back yet ?" asked Dan. He was confused and wasn't sure what time it was.

"No, you've only been asleep for about an hour. The others aren't due back for another hour yet," said Tom.

"Let's check it out," said Dan, rolling off his bed.

"Are you sure ?" asked Tom. "You've got a huge lump on your head you know," he added, wincing. "It's probably just hotel staff," he suggested.

"No, they're not up here at this time," said Dan. "Come on. Let's see what's going on." With this he grabbed his spy-pod, opened the door and stuck his head out into the corridor. The corridor was deserted. Dan pocketed the room key and gestured to Tom to come with him. Sighing, Tom turned off his game, collected his spy-pod and joined Dan at the door. They softly closed the door behind them and headed off towards the stairs. They paused at the top of the stairs and listened. They could hear the distant sound of voices. It was strange because it was out of the main tourist season and the hotel was very quiet. They hadn't met any other guests at breakfast. Dan nodded towards the stairs and they quietly walked down.

They reached the ground floor of the hotel and had met nobody. The voices sounded nearer, but sounded like they were coming from below. They circled round the stairs to an unmarked door behind them. Tom pulled out his spy-pod and scanned the door. "That's weird," he said. "It's got a really sophisticated electronic lock. I'll work out the combination. Hang on a sec." Tom worked on his spy-pod while Dan took a quick look round the corner to check that nobody had seen them. "Got it," whispered Tom, as the door softly clicked open. Tom looked uncertainly at Dan, and Dan peered through the gap between the door and the wall.

"It's clear. Come on !" he said, slipping through. Tom reluctantly followed. Once inside the door, they found more stairs. They had to go down several more flights before it opened out on to a long, sloping corridor. Dan glanced around and saw a camera placed above their heads looking down the corridor in front of them. He pulled up the hood of his jacket. He motioned Tom to do the same. Then he lead the way down the corridor, spy-pod concealed in his pocket. The sound of voices was now getting loud. They could hear people shouting to one another. The corridor turned a corner and the two boys cautiously peered round the end.

In front of them was a large chamber, like an underground cavern. People were moving crates and boxes around. Two men walked past carrying long metal poles. They were calling and shouting out to one another mostly in French, but Dan thought he heard some other languages as well. He wasn't a language expert. This was definitely weird. "Tom," he whispered. "Use your spy-pod to record it. We can play it back to Frank and he can get it translated."

"It might be completely innocent," said Tom, pulling his spy-pod out anyway.

"What, are you kidding ? An underground cavern hidden underneath a hotel ? Since when is that easy to explain away ?" hissed Dan. Tom sighed and shrugged. He started recording as much as he could of what was going on, both in video and sound. After a while, they spotted two men heading towards their corridor. "Uh oh ! We need to get out of here !" hissed Dan. Tom stowed his spy-pod back in his pocket and the two set off at a run back to the stairs. "Keep your head down !" instructed Dan. They both ducked their heads so that they wouldn't be recognised from the CCTV camera.

The two of them ran back up the stairs and hit the exit button for the security door. They could hear the two men coming up the stairs behind them by this time. Tom and Dan darted out into the public area again and charged back up the stairs to their floor. Dan's head was splitting and he struggled up the last few steps. He tripped a little at the top of the stairs and Tom had to grab his arm to keep him on his feet. "Nearly there," panted Tom. It sounded like the men were coming up into the hotel after them. "Come on ! We've got to get into our room !" hissed Tom, panicking. He grabbed the key from Dan, opened their door and shoved Dan inside, following behind. He had just shut their door behind him when they heard the men coming out into their corridor. They held their breaths until they'd heard the footsteps and murmuring voices going past their door.

They both sank to the floor in relief, Dan breathing hard. "Wow, that was close !" said Tom. "I wonder what on earth they were doing." He looked at Dan who was rubbing his forehead. "Head hurting ?" he asked sympathetically. Dan nodded miserably. "Come on, get into bed. You were supposed to be resting tonight," said Tom, "not running around chasing possible criminals !"

Dan staggered up, went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and then changed into his pyjamas. Tom waited for the sound of their schoolfriends coming back before turning on their light. By this time, Dan was lying in bed. They both jumped when someone knocked on their door. It was Mr. McNab.

"Everything alright here boys ?" asked Mr. McNab. He looked relieved to see Dan lying in bed looking fairly alert. "Good. I thought I got a glimpse of someone in this corridor. Have you heard anything boys ?" he asked. They both looked at one another and then shook their heads. "Ah, well, it must have been my imagination. There shouldn't be anyone else on this floor. Don't open the door to anyone until they say who they are, understood ?" he asked, still looking concerned. They nodded. "Right, Goodnight then. I'll see you in the morning," he said, closing the door behind him.

"Mr. McNab's a bit more alert than Mr. Flatley isn't he ?" Tom asked.

"I think that's why they put Mr. Flatley in charge," said Dan. "Mr. McNab would have found us out in a week !"

"I'm calling Frank," said Tom. "Hi Frank ! No, not much. Well, actually a couple of things. Erm, well, Zoe kicked Dan in the head by mistake and .. What? .. Yeah, well she didn't mean to, well not Dan anyway. Anyway the thing is, because we stayed in the hotel tonight we heard some weird noises. We investigated and there's this big underground cavern under the hotel with loads of people. We filmed some footage because we couldn't understand what they were saying. Can I send you the footage so you can get it translated please ?" Tom asked. There was a pause at the other end. "Well, I don't know ! Are you sure you didn't send us here for a reason ?" Tom asked. "OK, it's just so strange that's all. Yes. I will. Yes, he's fine. Just got a lump on his forehead where she kicked him. Yes, I'll do that. Bye Frank," he said, closing the call.

"I'm sending Frank the footage," he told Dan. Tom fiddled with his spy-pod for a minute and then put it away. "Done. Boy, I'm tired now. It was a bit more energetic this evening than I'd anticipated," said Tom. There was no reply. "Dan ?" He looked over and realised that Dan had fallen asleep. As quietly as he could he got ready for bed and then switched off the light. Mr. McNab came down the corridor telling people to switch their lights out. It was strangely comforting. Tom knew that Mr. McNab was less of a match for serious criminals than he was himself, but somehow he felt safer knowing he was around. He lay in the darkness wondering what was going on under the hotel.

Frank sat in his base looking at the footage which Tom had sent him, with a frown on his face. He made a call to an old friend. "Oscar ? Hi, yes, I'm fine thanks. The new team ? Oh, they're great thanks. Oscar, can you do me a favour ? The team have sent me some footage of activity near their current location. Can you translate what's going on for me please ? Yes, it's a priority. OK, I owe you one Oscar. Thanks," he said, closing the call and sending over the footage. What on earth had his team fallen into ?

Two men were sitting in a basement room of the hotel looking at CCTV footage. "See, here !" said the first man in French. They were looking at footage of Dan and Tom running back up the secret corridor.

"They have covered their heads," said the second man. "They could be any of those kids upstairs. We'll never find them !"

"Not quite," said the first man, pointing. He paused the image over Dan's hooded face. "There," he said, pointing at the screen. They both leaned forward and when Dan's head raised slightly to look for the door handle, they could just make out a big, darkening bruise on the middle of his forehead. "They can't all look like that !" he said, smiling grimly.


	4. Chapter 4

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think.**

"_They have covered their heads," said the second man. "They could be any of those kids upstairs. We'll never find them !"_

"_Not quite," said the first man, pointing. He paused the image over Dan's hooded face. "There," he said, pointing at the screen. They both leaned forward and when Dan's head raised slightly to look for the door handle, they could just make out a big, darkening bruise on the middle of his forehead. "They can't all be like that !" he said, smiling grimly._

The next day they gathered at breakfast for their day's briefing from Mr. McNab and Mme. Renard. Dan was feeling much better, but had an enormous bruise on his forehead. He'd brushed his fringe over it so he wouldn't get asked too may questions. The hotel staff were in attendance that morning. One woman was serving bread rolls to each of the students. Aneisha joined the boys at their table. "They're a bit keener this morning aren't they ? They left us to it yesterday. Maybe they thought we were eating too many bread rolls," she suggested. They were all busy chatting to one another when the hotel manager came in to talk to the woman with the bread rolls. She was shaking her head. "Obviously haven't caught the phantom bread roll thief," commented Aneisha.

Tom updated the two girls about what had happened the previous evening while they were out. Aneisha couldn't believe they could just walk into the middle of some criminal activity. "It's supposed to be a week off. Did Frank say anything ?" she asked. Tom told her he was having the footage checked, but that he hadn't heard anything back from Frank yet.

Zoe hadn't said anything. She sat staring at Dan. After a minute or two, even Dan noticed. He'd been too busy stuffing bread and cheese into his mouth. "Zoe, I'm fine. Stop worrying about it," he said.

"Yeah, it didn't stop him poking his nose into the local underground," joked Tom. This raised a small smile from Zoe.

"I could have really hurt you," she said in a small voice.

"Nah, I'm fine. It was lucky you only hit me on the head," laughed Dan. "Otherwise you might have done some damage. How did it go last night anyway ?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh it was very nice," said Zoe. "At the end Byron got up to sing with the band."

"Oh no ! Didn't anyone try to stop him ?" asked Tom.

"Mr. McNab looked like he was going to rugby tackle him, but he slipped past on to the stage and then it was too late," said Aneisha. "You know, it's funny, but I'd been thinking it couldn't possibly get any worse !" Tom and Dan laughed, but Zoe looked confused.

"He was really good !" she said. "I liked it."

The fun activity that day was sand yachting which they would do in the afternoon. They were all sent up to their rooms to collect the gloves they'd been told to bring. The morning's trip was to see the local limestone cave system for geography. While they were standing outside being counted by Mr. McNab Zoe turned to Dan.

"Dan, I'm really sorry," said Zoe. "I wouldn't ever try to hurt you."

"Zoe, it's OK. I know you're not like other girls. I'll just have to be more careful," said Dan quietly.

"I wish I was like other girls," said Zoe forlornly.

"Well I don't," said Dan, quite forcefully. "I like you just the way you are." He blushed and mumbled in embarrassment when he realised what he'd said. Then he smiled at her. She smiled back gratefully.

The coach first drove them out to a local park area. A park warden walked them out to view the unusual features of the local area. Even Dan had to admit it was pretty spectacular. The limestone had been eroded into all kinds of weird shapes. They were told that the whole area was riddled with underground rivers and caves. At the end of the tour the park warden took them to see a sink hole. A quite sizeable river rushed across the ground and then disappeared completely into a large crack in the ground. The teens crept up to the edge and some lay on their stomachs to try to see the bottom of the hole. Dan was one of those who strained to see over the edge. He could hear the water thundering into the rocks far below ground level, but he couldn't see anything in the darkness. It was quite spooky.

After lunch they were taken sand yachting. The sand yachting was great fun. They had to take turns in the yachts. After a long safety briefing Tom got into a yacht and got into a complete muddle. After a while, Dan ran over to him and told him to pretend it was just a game on his console and to follow the instructions without thinking about it too much. This seemed to do the trick. Soon Tom was whizzing round with the rest, turning and sweeping back and forth into the wind. Aniesha and Zoe raced one another up and down the beach. Dan spent most of his runs trying to avoid Roly who was careering all over the beach, yelling constantly.

They got back into the coach happy and windblown. "Wow, where did you get that bruise ?" Roly asked Dan. Dan's hair had blown back from his face and set with the salty sea spray.

"Oh, I tripped up and banged my head on the wardrobe last night," said Dan. "That's why I couldn't go to the concert," he added.

"I was sympathetic until you got to the bit about missing the concert," said Roly, but he grinned at Dan, who grinned back.

"I heard Byron got up to sing with the band," said Dan.

"Aw man ! You'd have to nail his shoes to the floor to stop him !" complained Roly.

"Maybe you should suggest it to Mr. McNab," said Dan. Roly looked thoughtful.

"I reckon he'd be up for it," said Roly thoughtfully.

They all trooped back into the hotel and headed for their rooms to get ready for dinner and the evening's entertainment which was billed as 'games' in the hotel garden. Tom picked up their room key and went ahead of Dan who was trying to get some more of the sand off his shoes before going upstairs. He glanced up to see the receptionist staring hard at him, so tried to get some more sand off his shoes. Finally he headed up the now deserted stairs to their floor. As he headed along the corridor the door of room 13 opened just behind him. He didn't have time to react as a hand clamped over his mouth and he was pulled forcefully into the room. The door was slammed shut in front of him and he was dragged backwards, his arms pinned behind his back. He was pulled into what looked like a lift. Doors closed and the lift descended.

Aneisha and Zoe were gathering their things when there was a knock at their door. It was Tom, looking worried. "Have you seen Dan ?" he asked them.

"No, he hasn't been in here. Why ?" asked Aneisha.

"He didn't come up to our room," said Tom. "There's no sign of him anywhere."

"Do you think he went to investigate under the hotel again ?" asked Aneisha.

"I don't think he'd go without telling me," said Tom. "Do you ?" The two girls looked at one another and shook their heads. "Do you think someone's grabbed him ?" asked Tom, sounding scared. "We kept our hoods up. They shouldn't have recognised us."

"I would have thought they would have spotted you this morning if they had seen your faces," said Aneisha.

"Oh !" said Zoe. "I think I know what it was. Dan's bruise. He has a big bruise on his forehead. They might have seen that."

"That could be it," agreed Aneisha. "He had his fringe brushed over it this morning. Of course ! The sand yachting blew his hair off his face. They would have seen the bruise when he got back this afternoon. We've got to call Frank !"

They sat down on their bed as Aneisha called Frank. "Frank we've got an emergency. Dan's disappeared. We think he might have been recognised by the people here," she told him.

"Why haven't they got Tom as well then ?" asked Frank.

"We think they recognised Dan because of the bruise on his forehead," explained Aneisha.

"OK, you're going to have to come out of there," said Frank. "It's getting much too dangerous. I've had that footage translated Tom. There's a serious operation going on under the hotel."

"No way ! We can't leave without Dan," said Aneisha hotly. The others nodded furiously with her. "And we've got to tell Mr. McNab. He's going to call the police isn't he ?" asked Aneisha.

Frank paused. "OK, you can stay there for now. I'm going to send some backup in with the police. Keep your eyes open. Do not try to rescue Dan until we have some more information. The agent I'm sending to help you is a language expert. I will send you the translation of the footage you sent. Keep me updated, and I'll let you know progress. You can tell Mr. McNab about Dan's disappearance. I'll put measures in place straight away," Frank instructed. They closed the call and looked at one another.

"I'll tell Mr. McNab," said Tom. He left the girls' room.


	5. Chapter 5

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. Yep, most of you have guessed. Language expert ...**

"_You can tell Mr. McNab about Dan's disappearance. I'll put measures in place straight away," Frank instructed. They closed the call and looked at one another. _

"_I'll tell Mr. McNab," said Tom. He left the girls' room._

Tom found Mr. McNab in the hotel lobby counting the students as they came down. He pulled him to one side and told him quietly that Dan had never come up to his room. He was relieved when Mr. McNab instantly took him seriously. "You're quite sure Dan wouldn't just take off ?" asked Mr. McNab.

Tom shook his head. "I know he has a lot of accidents and stuff, but you were very clear about not leaving the hotel Mr. McNab. He was right behind me downstairs trying to get the sand off his shoes and he was going to come up and change. There's no reason he would just go away. I haven't checked everyone's bedrooms though, just Aneisha and Zoe's."

"Right," said Mr. McNab. "First we search the rooms. Everyone listen up !" he shouted to the gathering teens. "We've lost someone. I want everybody to return to their room and check it thoroughly to see if Daniel Morgan is there. Then I want you to lock your room and come directly back down here. Understood ?" There was a shocked murmur of agreement and then everyone set off upstairs. While they were gone, Mr. McNab searched the gents toilets and other communcal areas of the ground floor. Mme. Renard joined him and he explained the situation. She spoke to the receptionist who claimed not to have noticed the boy or any unusual visitors to the hotel.

Twenty minutes later a subdued group sat in the hotel dining room while Mr. McNab took a head count. "Right, no sign of Daniel ?" he asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Ok, I want everyone to stay here while Mme. Renard and I deal with this situation. If you need to leave the room for any reason, you tell us first, understood ?" Everyone nodded.

Mr. McNab and Mme. Renard went out into the lobby to speak to the receptionist. They could hear an argument going on between Mme. Renard and the receptionist. You didn't have to speak French to hear the anger in their teacher's voice. Eventually the hotel manager appeared and the argument continued. The teachers obviously won out and Mme. Renard made a phone call. A short while later a police car arrived. A policeman and woman spoke to the teachers before asking the hotel staff some questions. All of the students were craning to see what was going on. Mr. McNab produced a passport, presumably Dan's, to show the police. After a while another car arrived and two more men got out. The students were asked to speak one at a time to the plain clothed officers about whether they had seen anything. The first up was Tom.

One of the officers spoke fluent English and asked all the questions. The other took notes. Tom explained what had happened that evening. "And why did you think something had happened to your friend and that he had not just gone for a walk ?" asked the young police officer.

"It's just not something he would do," explained Tom. "He follows orders. He just does," he added. The young policeman smiled at him.

"Thankyou Tom. I am sure that we will track your friend down. Try not to worry," said the policeman.

Mr. McNab explained how he thought he had seen someone hanging around in the students' corridor the night before and how it had made him uneasy at the time.

By the end of the evening, everyone was tired and worried. There was still no sign of Dan. The group of police officers gathered and discussed the case seriously amongst themselves. The two plain clothed officers gave some instructions to the uniformed officers who left. The English speaking officer came to speak to Mr. McNab. "Mr. McNab, I suggest that all the students are confined to their rooms for the rest of tonight. An alert is being put out for the missing student. I would like to see the boy's room please. Perhaps his room-mate could show me ?" said the young man. Mr. McNab readily agreed.

Tom let the man into their room. "Close the door," instructed the officer. Tom did as he was told and the officer pulled open the drawer of his bedside cabinet to reveal his spy-pod. Tom held his breath. What if this man was not a policeman ? He suddenly felt very nervous and started feeling behind him for the door handle. "You still brought your spy-pod then !" commented the young man, looking round at Tom and smiling. It was a friendly smile.

"What ? Oh ! Are you .." asked Tom, surprised.

"Yes, I'm MI9," explained the officer. He held out his hand. "Oscar Cole. You must be Tom Tupper ?" he asked. Tom shook his hand and nodded.

"Wait, weren't you on Frank's old team ?" asked Tom.

"Yes, that's right. I was the language expert," said Oscar. "You're the techie guy aren't you ?" he asked, glancing at the array of electronic equipment lying on Tom's bed. "Frank has sent you my translation of your footage from last night. I'll ask your teacher if the rest of your team can join us," said Oscar, leaving the room. He returned with Zoe and Aneisha, who looked puzzled.

"This is Agent Oscar Cole," Tom explained. "He's MI9."

"Has he got ID ?" asked Zoe, looking suspicious. Oscar smiled and pulled out his MI9 ID. "Oh. Sorry," said Zoe.

"Very sensible," said Oscar. "Tom has the footage which he sent to Frank yesterday. Why don't you play it for everyone Tom ?" asked Oscar.

Tom pulled out his spy-pod and opened the returned file before putting it on his laptop. They gathered round so that Tom could set the volume low. They watched the pictures which Tom had recorded in the cavern, but now the sound was replaced with a recording of Oscar's voice translating what everyone was saying. It was mostly people shouting instructions to one another. Occasionally they would hear phrases such as 'weapons cache' and 'explosives'.

"We think they're involved in some sort of drilling operation to access a weapons cache. Either that or they are trying to plant some explosives. We can't find anything nearby which might be worth blowing up, so MI9 suspect the first one," explained Oscar. "You've stumbled on something pretty serious here."

"How many languages were they speaking ?" asked Aneisha.

"I counted six in total," said Oscar. "There was French, Russian, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, German and a little English."

"Wow ! How many languages do you speak ?" asked Aneisha.

"Fourteen. I'm supposed to be working on my Spanish," said Oscar with a grimace. "Never got on with Spanish. Anyway, Frank asked me to come for that reason. He's not happy with you being here."

"We can cope," said Zoe, rolling her eyes.

Oscar grinned. "I don't doubt it," he said. "Frank's going to arrange for reinforcements to come over. I'm just the advance party as it were. I've brought you some communicators and trackers. Frank wants you to have the trackers on you at all times, OK ?" They took the equipment and nodded.

"Right, I'll walk you girls back to your room," said Oscar looking at his watch. "Frank is going to call us all in about ten minutes. I'm going to run a scan along the corridor to see if I can find anything unusual along here. It might give us some clue of how Dan was taken. I'll let you know the results. Oh, and this is for you Tom," he said, putting a package on the bed. He left with the two girls and Tom sat down on his bed and opened the package. It was filled with specialist equipment. He looked at Dan's empty bed and felt angry suddenly. They were going to get him back.

Tom's communicator blinked and he answered it. "Team !" said Frank's voice. "You've met Oscar then ?" he asked. They confirmed that they had. Oscar's voice reported that he would have to speak to the class teacher and then get back to them. "Have you watched the footage ?" asked Frank. "Good, then you all know how serious this is. We're going to get Dan back, but we're going to have to be careful. Dan hasn't got anything on him to identify him as a spy has he ?" he asked. Tom assured him that Dan's spy-pod was still in the room. "Good. That should buy us some time," said Frank. "The police are going to withdraw and give the operation there some space to get active again. You are going to spy on them as best you can and gather information. I've sent some equipment over with Oscar. Use whatever you need. Meanwhile we're putting together a SWAT team here. We need to work with the French secret service. I'll let you know as soon as I know anything."

At this point, Oscar's voice returned to the conversation. "OK I've settled Mr. McNab's nerves a little. I've scanned the corridor and Room 13 is definitely not a bedroom. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't scan. I've planted a small camera on the wall outside. I've directed the output to Tom's spy-pod. I've also planted a camera outside the secret door downstairs.I've dropped some hints with the reception staff that the police are not taking Dan's disappearance seriously.I'm leaving the building now. I'll just stop people going about their business if I hang around. Speak to you later guys !" he left the call.

"OK team. Hang together and we'll find Dan, I promise you," said Frank reassuringly.


	6. Chapter 6

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think.**

_At this point, Oscar's voice returned to the conversation. "OK I've settled Mr. McNab's nerves a little. I've scanned the corridor and Room 13 is definitely not a bedroom. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't scan. I've planted a small camera on the wall outside. I've directed the output to Tom's spy-pod. I've also planted a camera outside the secret door downstairs. I'm leaving the building now. I've dropped some hints with the reception staff that the police are not taking Dan's disappearance seriously. I'll just stop people going about their business if I hang around. Speak to you later guys !" he left the call. _

"_OK team. Hang together and we'll find Dan, I promise you," said Frank reassuringly._

Dan was pushed through a maze of corridors which were more like caves cut through the rock. Nobody spoke. Finally he was pushed into a small room and tied to a chair in the centre of the room and left alone. He looked around him. The room looked as if it had been cut out of solid rock. No point shouting then. After a short while the door opened again and two men came in. They stood in front of Dan and one barked a question at him. The man was speaking French. Dan looked blankly at him. The man reached forward and pulled Dan's hair up to see the bruise on his forehead. His hand rubbed against the bruise and Dan winced.

The man asked him another question, but he spoke quickly and Dan's poor French was no match for it. The other man barked a question. Dan looked at him helplessly. "Anglais ?" asked Dan. The two men looked at one another. The first walked up to Dan and grabbed the front of his jacket. He said something to him in a conversational tone. Dan looked at him baffled. Finally the man let go, spoke to the other man and they left the room. Dan had never felt so helpless. He had no idea what was going on. He was blissfully unaware that the man had threatened to cut off his head and feed it to the fishes.

Dan sat for what seemed ages on his own. Eventually the door opened and one of the two men returned with a woman. They stood in front of Dan again. "So, your name ?" asked the woman in English.

"Daniel Morgan," said Dan. There was no point lying. They could find out from the hotel staff. "What's going on here ?" asked Dan.

"We are asking the questions boy !" said the woman harshly. "What are you doing here ?" she asked.

"We're on a school study trip," replied Dan truthfully. "French and Geography."

"And what were you doing down here yesterday evening ?" asked the woman.

Dan hesitated. Was it worth lying ? The man walked behind his chair and grabbed his arm, before twisting it hard. Dan cried out in pain. "Agh ! We, we were curious about the door," groaned Dan.

"And what did you see ?" asked the woman.

Again the man twisted Dan's arm hard. "Owww ! Just, just people shouting in different languages. I didn't understand," said Dan.

"Really, you are just curious yes ?" said the woman. "I think a little too curious perhaps. And what of your friend ? What did he see ?" she asked.

"I don't know. We had to run when we saw someone coming," said Dan. "We didn't have much time."

"I think you are not telling us the truth," said the woman. "What is your friend's name ?"

Dan closed his mouth and this earned him another agonising twist of his arm. "Please ! Please leave him alone. He doesn't know anything either," begged Dan. He took deep breaths, trying to deal with the pain.

"Give me the name, and then you can go," offered the woman. Dan looked her in the eye. She wasn't going to let him go. Who was she trying to kid ? She obviously didn't know he was a spy. Dan started to feel more hopeful. At least he did until the man slapped him across the face. This made his head spin. Dan bent double and tears of pain rolled down his face. The man grabbed his hair and pulled him upright.

"So are you going to tell us his name ?" she asked. Dan painfully shook his head slightly. The man let go of his hair and spoke to the woman in French. They both walked out of the room. Dan sagged forward again. His head was splitting.

It seemed like hours before another two men came into the room and untied his hands. He was dragged through more corridors until he arrived at a small cell cut into the rock, with bars on the front. He was pushed into the cell and the door locked behind him. Dan half sat and half fell onto the simple bed at the side of the cell. He lay down, curled up and fell asleep.

A small group of people met in a room not far away, talking urgently in French and Russian. "Do we know who the boy is working for ?" asked a man.

"It looks like he is just a schoolboy," said the woman. "Just a very nosy one. I don't think he understood anything of what he saw. He does not speak French."

"We will have to dispose of him," said another man.

"It will have to wait. There is too much interest at the moment and we are nearing our goal," said the woman. "The police have been called by the boy's teacher. When they lose interest, then we can get rid of him."

"What about the other boy ?" asked someone.

"The boy we have won't give him away. We don't know who he is, but if he has said anything, he has obviously not been believed. If we take another kid, it will just create more interest we don't need," said the woman. "Nobody has investigated the building beyond the public areas. We should be safe, once the police and the kids have cleared the building. One of the plain clothed officers told the reception staff that it was probably all some kid's idea of a prank. In a couple of days the school group will leave and we can dispose of him somewhere in the countryside. They will think he was running away and had an unfortunate accident."

"We should never have permitted this group to visit !" complained a man. "It has slowed our operation."

"It was necessary !" scolded the woman. "This is a hotel. A hotel has to have visitors, otherwise it would attract attention. Do not be foolish. Be patient and we will achieve our goal," she ordered. "Get back to work. I will contact the Crime Minister and update her." With this the group disbanded and the woman made her call to a very unhappy super-criminal.

Upstairs, Zoe and Aneisha lay in the dark, wide awake. "Aneisha, what are we going to do ?" asked Zoe.

"I don't know yet. We are going to have to come up with something. They probably don't dare do anything to Dan just yet, but when they think the pressure is off, they will have to get rid of him," said Aneisha. "Oscar seems nice doesn't he ?" she asked. "It's funny meeting someone who used to do our job."

Zoe was silent for a minute. "It's my fault."

"What ?" asked Aneisha.

"If he hadn't had that bruise on his head, they wouldn't have found him. I gave him that bruise," said Zoe.

"Zoe, there's no point feeling sorry for yourself now. If Dan hadn't decided to go investigating things he wouldn't have got caught either. I don't suppose Tom would have been able to stop him, do you ?" asked Aneisha.

"No, I guess not," agreed Zoe. "I'm not losing him !" she said vehemently.

"OK. Well when we get him back, try not to kick him in the head again," teased Aneisha. This made Zoe giggle.

"It's not a big turn on is it ?" she laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. Apologies up front to anyone to speaks French. Mine is ropey at best. Sorry.**

"_No, I guess not," agreed Zoe. "I'm not losing him !" she said vehemently._

"_OK. Well when we get him back, try not to kick him in the head again," teased Aneisha. This made Zoe giggle._

"_It's not a big turn on is it ?" she laughed._

Dan woke feeling cold. He was shivering. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was about 6am. There was no other way of knowing. There was a lightbulb outside his cell which was underground. He sat up to try and warm himself. His head was still throbbing from the evening before and moving about made it worse. In the end he sat on his narrow bed, hugging himself and shivering. He had a sense he was being watched. Looking up he saw an older man watching him, peering through narrowed eyes. The man spoke to him, but Dan couldn't understand what he said. Dan tried to remember the French for 'I don't understand', but he couldn't remember anything. He rubbed his head. Finally the man walked away.

Some time later Dan was surprised when the older man came back with a small tray. He knelt in front of the cell door and pushed the tray underneath. Dan looked and saw there was a glass of water and two tablets. They looked like painkillers. Dan looked at the man questioningly and he said what sounded like "paracetemol oui ?" Dan smiled gratefully and took the tablets. He drank all the water in the glass as well. The old man watched him, and pointed to the tray. Dan put his glass back on the tray and the old man took it away. A short while later the man returned, this time with a large, thick blanket. He pushed it through the bars to Dan.

Dan took the blanket and said, "Merci." This made the old man smile at him. Wrapping himself in the blanket, Dan gradually started to feel a bit warmer. His stomach was rumbling with hunger. At least the headache was wearing off a bit. After some time the old man came back with the tray again. He pushed it under the door and Dan got up to find a large bowl of porridge with a spoon. He didn't like porridge, but was so hungry he would eat anything. He said, "Merci" again and took the bowl. He sat and ate every scrap in the bowl. It was the best porridge he had ever tasted. Resisting the urge to lick the bowl clean, he put it back on the tray. The old man grinned and clicked his fingers at him. Sighing, Dan put the spoon back as well. So much for escape plan one !

As the old man walked away with the tray, Dan checked him out to see if he was carrying keys. Perhaps he could grab him and get the keys to the door. He looked hard but he couldn't see anything useful on the old man. He felt a bit guilty about the possibility of hurting the old guy when he was looking after him. Still, these people weren't going to keep him alive for much longer. He had to get out of here. His team would come for him, he knew, but first they had to find him. They weren't on a mission so he didn't have a tracker on him. Frank was in another country. Wrapping himself in the blanket again, Dan sat despondently on his little bed.

Some time later the old man came back again, this time with a small stool which he placed in front of the cell. "Comment vous appellez vous ?" asked the man. Dan thought about this. It sounded familiar. What did it mean again ? Oh, he was asking his name !

"Je suis … erm, no …. Je m'appelle Dan," Dan stammered.

The old man grinned at him again. "Victor !" he said, putting his hand through the bars. Dan shook his hand. Why not ?

"Bonjour Victor," said Dan. This made the old man laugh hysterically. Dan guessed his accent must be pretty terrible. He had to laugh as well, and shrugged his shoulders. The old man left and returned with a small folding chair and a pack of cards. He started dealing cards out on to the stool. The old man then carried out a pantomime of how to play the card game. It looked a lot like the Rummy Dan had played with his grandmother when he was little. There was nothing else to do down here, so he decided he might as well play along with the old man.

After a couple of games, another man came down the tunnel to the cells. Dan saw him first because Victor had his back to him. He shouted at Victor. Dan didn't understand what was being said, but it was clear he didn't approve of Victor playing cards with Dan. The man waved his finger at Victor and pointed to Dan. He motioned putting a gun to Dan's head. Victor was now standing and there was more shouting and handwaving. Dan backed away from the cell bars, but too late as the other man grabbed the front of his jacket and yanked him up against the bars. Dan banged his head against the bars and let out a small groan when his head connected.

The younger man shouted at him in broken English. "You boy, don't get comfortable see ? Soon we get rid of you. This stupid old man thinks he can play games with you huh ? You are just stupid boy who should put his nose somewhere else !" he shouted into Dan's face. Dan winced at the waves of garlic and alcohol fumes hitting his face. Finally the man let him go, to stagger back across his cell, pressing himself against the back wall in fear. The man turned, kicking over the stool and cards before stomping off back up the tunnel.

Victor didn't seem too worried about the incident. He calmly picked up his stool and all of the cards from the floor. After tidying up the pile, he looked at Dan, gestured with his thumb back towards the now vanished colleague and waved his hand in the motion of a man drinking. Then he settled himself back into his little chair and started shuffling the cards for another game. He waved his hand for Dan to come back to the game. Dan was shaken by the incident. The threats from the drunken man were obviously real and he knew that this was only going to be a brief respite. Victor however, was not a man to take 'no' for an answer.

"Alons y !" he called to Dan. Trying to put his fears to the back of his mind, Dan rejoined the old man at the cell door, sitting down on the floor and taking his cards. Victor grinned at him, then threw down his first card.

Above ground at the hotel, the teenagers gathered for breakfast. They were much quieter than usual, aware that one of them was still missing. Mr. McNab tried to behave as normally as possible. He'd consulted with Mme. Renard about whether or not to abort the whole trip, and take the students back home a day and a half early. They were holding on to the hope that the police would find Dan and they would return with the whole group. However hard he tried, Mr. McNab couldn't shake off his unease. He'd never lost a student in his care before. It left a horrible sinking feeling in his gut.

For once, the students weren't giving him a hard time. They knew this had to be just as hard for their teachers as it was for them. Zoe, Aneisha and Tom whispered to one another at their table. "Frank had someone watch the cameras on the doors all night," hissed Tom. "There were people coming in and out all night, once everyone was in bed. He thinks they counted upwards of fifty people going back and forth all night."

"Fifty !" hissed Aneisha. "That's a big operation. We've got our work cut out for us getting in there. How are we going to get past so many people."

"Don't forget, we're supposed to be on a school trip," Tom reminded her. "We can't just disappear now, especially when the teachers are so on edge. We can't just wander off for a few hours and get away with it. They're going to be watching us like hawks."

"What about Oscar ?" asked Zoe. "He can help can't he ?" she asked.

"I'm sure he will," said Tom. "If we're going to do anything, it has to be tonight. We're due to go home tomorrow and then there's nothing else we can do."

"Frank would keep trying after we've gone though wouldn't he ?" asked Zoe.

"Yes, but .." Aneisha trailed off. She glanced at Tom and could see that he was thinking the same thing. "Zoe, after we're gone and the hotel is empty, the people here can do anything they like. If they want to get rid of Dan, that's when they'll do it. We have to get Dan tonight, or I think it's going to be too late."

There was a silence when Aneisha finished speaking. Zoe looked like she was going to cry. Aneisha reached over and gripped her arm firmly. "That's not going to happen Zoe, understand ? We're going to put an end to it tonight. Are you with us ? We need you Zoe," she added. This seemed to have the desired effect and Zoe stiffened herself, wiping a tear from her eye.

"You're right. We've got to be strong, for Dan's sake," said Zoe firmly.

Mr. McNab then instructed all the students to collect their gear for the day. The final full day had been intended as a treat because they were travelling to a local water park and they'd brought their swimming kit along with them. The three agents spent the day trying to have a good time with their class mates. It was difficult to focus while trying to dream up ways to rescue Dan. Aneisha was surprised to find out what a good swimmer Tom was. She'd always assumed that since he showed no interest in running around and fighting, that he didn't get involved in any activity. She had to admit he had a pretty mean front crawl. To her astonishment, Zoe couldn't swim very well, and couldn't got on many of the activities.

"Didn't they do swimming at SKUL ?" asked Aneisha when nobody was around.

"No," said Zoe. Seeing Aneisha's look of disbelief, she explained that SKUL didn't have any swimming pools and didn't let their agents go to public pools to learn. Zoe had her first swimming lessons with MI9 and had just scraped through the agent's physical test by being able not to drown.

"Hm ! Good job we went sand yachting then," commented Aneisha. The two girls watched as Tom whizzed past them on a flume, twisted round a large loop and then shot out into a pool to their right. Zoe noticed Aneisha frowning.

"What's the matter ? You're not getting me on that thing !" said Zoe, prodding the side of the flume.

"You know when we went to see that limestone sink hole and they said that this whole area was riddled with underground rivers and caves ?" asked Aneisha. Zoe nodded, wondering where this was going. "Well, Tom said that the place they found under the hotel was like a cavern, didn't he ? Suppose that these criminals are using existing caves which are linked up to the underground system in some way," said Aneisha thoughtfully.

"There might be another way in. Brilliant Aneisha !" whispered Zoe.


	8. Chapter 8

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. **

"_You know when we went to see that limestone sink hole and they said that this whole area was riddled with underground rivers and caves ?" asked Aneisha. Zoe nodded, wondering where this was going. "Well, Tom said that the place they found under the hotel was like a cavern, didn't he ? Suppose that these criminals are using existing caves which are linked up to the underground system in some way," said Aneisha thoughtfully._

"_There might be another way in. Brilliant Aneisha !" whispered Zoe._

Aneisha, Zoe and Tom had a huddled conversation about using the underground cave system to get access to where Dan was being held prisoner. Zoe informed their teachers that she'd had enough and was going to get changed. While she was on her own in the changing rooms, Zoe contacted Oscar with her communicator and explained the team's idea. Oscar promised he would research it with Frank and let them know when they returned to the hotel, whether they could find a route into the area under the hotel. "Let the others know that there is a joint French, MI9 SWAT team being put together. I'll feed this suggestion into them as well. It sounds good to me. Well done you three !" said Oscar. Zoe thought that Oscar reminded her a lot of Frank.

Zoe went to sit in the cafeteria to wait for the others to finish. She was surprised when Tom and Aneisha both joined her fairly quickly. She told them about Oscar's promise to work with Frank on a route through the cave system. They all sat in silence for a few minutes drinking hot chocolate. Zoe had an empty jelly bowl beside her. She had never really got over her love for jelly. "I can't bear the idea of going home without him," said Zoe after a while. The other two looked at her sympathetically. They were joined by Mr. McNab.

"I thought I might find you three together," he said, sighing and sitting down with them.

"We're going to get him back Mr. McNab," promised Zoe firmly. He looked at her and half smiled.

"I hope so Zoe. The police promised to get back to me this evening with any progress," said Mr. McNab. All the bluster and anger seemed to have left him. "It's not knowing that's the hardest thing isn't it ?" he asked. They all nodded and sat in silence together. There was really nothing else to say.

The teachers didn't have to gather the group together after their allotted time in the water park. Everyone seemed to want to hang together and soon everyone was sitting in the cafeteria finishing their snacks and drinks. The later afternoon was due to be free time in the town. They were instructed to stay in small groups and on no account to become separated. For once this instruction was followed to the letter. Nobody wanted to be on their own.

Tom, Aneisha and Zoe were strolling through a small street market when Aneisha's communicator went off. "Aneisha, I want you all to come to the Adolphus Cinema in the main street," said Oscar. "Can you see it ?" he asked. She said that they could and promised they would be there in a couple of minutes. The three of them hurried to the cinema. At the entrance they looked at the cashier wondering what to do. The woman looked up and waved them in. Glancing at one another they walked into the cinema. It was an old-fashioned building with just the one screen. They walked into the main theatre and gasped in surprise.

The rows of cinema seats were filled with people wearing combat gear, sorting through weapons and other equipment and various police and other unidentified people in black. Oscar walked up to them, accompanied by a smiling Frank.

"Frank !" exclaimed Zoe, Aneisha and Tom, running up and hugging him. Oscar grinned.

"Still popular Frank !" he laughed.

Frank grinned sheepishly. He was glad to see his team, well, most of his team, again. "Aneisha, your idea was brilliant," he praised her. "We've been working with the local geological and caving communities and we think we've found a route through to the area under the hotel. There is a particularly large natural cavern located under the hotel which all the local cavers know about. They've found it recently cut off with a cave-in. It's clear now that this must have been created artificially. We're planning a joint mission with French military intelligence to destroy this criminal operation and recover Dan. Are you up for it ?" asked Frank.

The three agents grinned. "You can't keep us away !" said Tom.

"Good. Thought you'd say that," said Frank, rubbing his hands together. "Come on, we'll brief you with everyone else. We're going to do it tonight," he added.

The briefing began. Frank took control of the laptop which was presenting the images and Oscar took a microphone and explained everything to the audience in English and French. After a while he handed the microphone to a man in an unfamiliar uniform. He turned out to be from the French unit and he briefed his own group on their role. Oscar then introduced the three teen agents and explained their role in the operation. There were a few raised eyebrows, but no complaints. Equipment was handed to all of the groups and the timings of the various parts of the plan given out.

The briefing was coming to an end and the different groups began collecting their equipment and leaving together for their various destinations. "Are you coming with us Oscar ?" asked Aneisha.

"No, I'm sorry. I've got to be coordination and control because I'm the best English and French speaker," he explained. "I'll be sitting in a van somewhere."

"With the biscuits ?" asked Tom.

"Biscuits ?" asked Oscar, looking puzzled.

Frank cleared his throat. "I think that's just you Tom," he said quietly.

"That's a shame. I bet you'd be really useful in the caves," said Aneisha. She could have sworn that Oscar shivered slightly when she said the word 'caves'.

"Erm, possibly not," he said, glancing at Frank. Frank patted him on the back.

"I think you're in the right job Oscar," said Frank. "No, you three are going to be guided by two of the local cavers. They are both ex-navy people who also speak some English. You'll be safer with two locals in the circumstances I think," he said. "The SWAT team are going to deal with the majority of the criminal group, who by the way, we believe are KORPS affiliates, and you three are going to get Dan. I will come to the hotel tonight to collect you at 'lights out' and get you kitted out. Oscar is going to make sure that all the students are out of the way so we can proceed without being seen. Any questions ?"

The three teens looked at one another and shook their heads. "Good, you'd better get back to your group," instructed Frank. "Good luck team." They nodded and left the building, blinking in the sunlight.

"That was weird," commented Aneisha.

"Yup. High on my weird scale," agreed Tom. "Let's get back to the coach. I want to get on with it," he added.

After dinner that evening, Oscar came into the hotel and asked to speak to Mr. McNab and Mme. Renard. They went up to Mr. McNab's room to speak out of earshot of the students and hotel staff. After scanning the room for bugs, he began, "Mr. McNab, Madame, what I'm about to explain is for your ears only. We believe we know the location of Daniel Morgan. We believe he has been captured by a criminal organisation based in this hotel because he overheard or saw something," he began. The two teachers looked at one another and swallowed nervously. Oscar continued," We are going to carry out an operation here and elsewhere tonight. It is essential that the students and yourselves are all locked in your rooms when this occurs. We don't want to have to deal with any more abductions. Tell the students that they may hear a lot of strange noises, voices and banging. Under no circumstances are they to leave their rooms. There will be a number of secret service agents working here and their identities also have to be kept secret. I hope you will be able to cooperate with us on this," he said.

Mr. McNab and Mme. Renard nodded seriously. "You can rely on us Officer," said Mr. McNab. "We'll go into each of the student rooms and explain it to them ourselves," he added.

Oscar handed each of the teachers a mobile phone. "Keep these with you at all times. I may need to contact you later," said Oscar. "Thankyou for your cooperation," said Oscar, getting up to leave. "I hope we are able to return Daniel to you soon," he added.

Mr. McNab shook hands with him. "That's all we want Officer," said Mr. McNab, wondering exactly what sort of job Oscar did. Oscar smiled at them both and left. The two teachers sat on the bed for another minute after he left. "Well, we need to get this right, don't we," said Mr. McNab.

"Yes. It is essential," said Mme. Renard. She looked at her watch. "Let's get them playing some games for the next couple of hours and then we can send them to their rooms," she suggested.

The two teachers returned to the students and said that they would be playing games that evening before bedtime. It turned out to be a fun evening. Everyone was in the mood to be together and the games were silly and fun. When it came time to go upstairs, they were all much more relaxed. Once all of the students were in their rooms, the two teachers started going into each room in turn and explaining what would be required of the youngsters that evening.

Mr. McNab spoke quietly to Roly and Byron in their room. "Now, I am as curious about what is going to happen tonight as you are, but I can promise you that I will not be opening my door to have a crafty peek at any time. I don't need to remind you I'm sure that Daniel's life probably depends on the success of this operation, so I know I can rely on you both, can't I ?" he asked. The two boys looked at one another and then solemnly promised they would keep their door shut at all times, no matter what happened.

Once he'd spoken to all the students, Mr. McNab returned to his own room, shut the door and turned the key. He leaned his back against the door and closed his eyes. Please let it work !

When the corridor was finally silent, Frank tapped quietly on Tom's door, then Zoe and Aneisha's. They all joined him and left the hotel by the back door.


	9. Chapter 9

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. **

_Once he'd spoken to all the students, Mr. McNab returned to his own room, shut the door and turned the key. He leaned his back against the door and closed his eyes. Please let it work !_

_When the corridor was finally silent, Frank tapped quietly on Tom's door, then Zoe and Aneisha's. They all joined him and left the hotel by the back door._

Underground, Victor was making his evening meal. He was making more than usual, because he was trying to get some hot food to Dan. The other KORPS agents had been giving him a hard time because he was treating the young lad so well. "Oi Victor, you got a new friend have you ?" jeered one of the men.

"Hey, do you want the police to find a body that has been beaten up with rope marks on his wrists, or do you want it to look like an accident ?" demanded Victor. This quietened them down a little. "I'm going to eat in my office," announced Victor, taking his tray of food away. He'd put a cover over his plate to keep the food warm. It also rather handily hid the fact that he had two meals on his tray. There was one for him and one for Dan. As he expected, someone stuck their head round his doorway to check if he really was eating on his own. He made sure they saw him eating, so they left satisfied. He quickly ate his portion and took the rest down to Dan. The boy reminded him of his grandson. He hadn't been able to see him in years. Victor missed his old life. These people were pretty poor company.

Dan was sitting staring into the distance when Victor arrived. He brightened up when he saw the old man approaching. Victor slid the tray under the bars and looked behind to make sure nobody was watching. Dan saw him looking behind and set to eating the food as quickly as possible. He guessed the old man was getting into trouble for looking after him. Putting his fork back on the plate and pushing the tray back, Dan struggled to think of the right words. "Tres bon, merci," he managed to say. Victor smiled at him, then dashed off with the tray before he got caught.

As he watched the old man disappear up the corridor, Dan couldn't help thinking about his situation. Tomorrow afternoon, the school group would leave France and he would be on his own. He didn't think these people would waste much time getting rid of him once the coast was clear. He had to be positive. His team would come for him, wouldn't they ? Zoe ? What about Zoe ? He could still feel that kiss at the disco. If only that could be the last thing he remembered before he died. In spite of his best efforts Dan felt himself being overwhelmed with fear and loss. This was the natural consequence of life as a spy. He should have been expecting this. Of course, he suspected nobody really expected it to happen to them. Dan wrapped himself in the big blanket and curled up against the wall at the end of his bed.

At the hotel, men in combat gear were sneaking through the building. All of the staff were taken by surprise and removed from the building. An agent took the place of the receptionist and other agents were placed strategically through the downstairs areas. SWAT team members positioned themselves outside the secret door and the door to Room 13. They reported through to control and settled in to wait.

Zoe, Tom and Aneisha were driven to a location about a mile from their hotel. There they were kitted out in wet-suits, helmets, gloves and special shoes and given waterproof backpacks. They were introduced to two men who were going to be their guides. Frank handed Tom and Aneisha some lasers which he promised them could cut through steel, even under water. "You may need these," he said. "I won't give you tasers, because of the amount of water about. They would be too dangerous. These are anaesthetic darts instead." He handed them small plastic gun-shaped objects. "They have a limited range; only about 10 metres alright ?" he said. They nodded their understanding.

Oscar's voice came over their headsets. "Rescue team and all cave invasion groups. Surface units are in place, repeat surface units are in place," said Oscar. He then repeated the message in French. "All cavern groups to proceed, repeat, all cavern groups to proceed," he said, again repeating it in French. "Rescue group to proceed. Good luck everyone !" he added. The team looked at one another.

Frank touched his earpiece. "Rescue group, message understood. Rescue group proceeding. Out," said Frank. "Right, it's our turn. Good luck," he said. The two navy men were carrying oxygen cylinders as well as ropes and other equipment. They led the teens down into a cave entrance. There was a metal ladder strapped to the rock wall, leading down into darkness. The two men switched on their head torches and instructed the others to do the same. One by one, they all stepped on to the ladder and slowly descended into the darkness, which soon became dotted with bobbing beams of light.

Frank watched them disappearing into the gloom. Oscar had been annoyed to find he was spending the night in a van. Frank looked down into the inky blackness and congratulated himself on making the right decision. There was no point in sending Oscar into his idea of hell when there were much better things for him to do.

Zoe was the last to reach the bottom of the ladder. One of the navy men gestured for them all to follow. He headed off towards a passage and they followed him in single file. They made slow, difficult progress through the caves. They had to clamber and crawl through passages of all different sizes and heights. Zoe was relieved she was wearing thick gloves and knee pads. The rock was often sharp and abrasive. She guessed her hands would have been shredded by now without the gloves. The two men leading them obviously knew these caves well and showed them where to put feet and hands when climbing over obstacles. Tom was getting tired after about half an hour of scrambling and crawling.

"How much further is it ?" he panted.

The lead caver looked at his watch, glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "At this pace I guess about another 45 minutes," he estimated. "There is some swimming still to come." It was Zoe's turn to look nervous now.

They soon reached what appeared to be a dead end in the cave, with a large pool of water in front of them. "Now we must dive down through the flooded passage," explained the navy men. "You must breathe through these," he said, handing them all a mouthpiece attached to the oxygen cylinders and face masks. Tom immediately felt embarrassed that he had been struggling when these two men had been lugging oxygen cylinders all this time.

The men gave them a minute to get accustomed to the mouth pieces. They had to suck hard to get air out. The lead caver went first, followed by Tom and Zoe who were using his air tanks. Aneisha came after with the other caver. Zoe felt a moment's panic as her head went under the water. She stopped and Tom gripped her hand, tugging her slightly. She looked at Tom who gave her a thumbs up sign, and she remembered Dan. They were doing this to get Dan back. Sucking in a deep breath, Zoe kicked out and followed on behind Tom. She found that if she just concentrated on breathing regular deep breaths, her panic subsided a little and she could keep going. She was mightily relieved when they broke the surface of the water again though.

They all climbed out of the water and looked ahead in the torch lights. In front of them was a wall of fallen rock. It seemed to be damming the water which they had just swum through. "We cannot go that way now," said the caver. "You will have to climb here," he said, pointing up to the side. "This tunnel will lead you to the main chamber, but it is quite narrow," he added. "We will not fit, but you three should be able to get through." The three agents looked at one another.

"Well, we've come this far," said Aneisha. "Let's do it !" Aneisha took the lead into the tunnel. Zoe followed and Tom went last. The cavers were right about the tunnel being tight. Aneisha had reckoned that if her hips would get through, the others would follow easily. They had to take off their backpacks and push them in front to get through the final narrow tunnel. After hauling herself out at the end, Aneisha pulled her backpack back on and crawled up to some rocks sticking up in front of her. She peered over the top as first Zoe and then Tom joined her. In front of them stretched a large cavern. Aneisha glanced at Tom, who nodded back. This was the same cavern he had seen with Dan.

Tom glanced at his watch. "They're going to start the assault in ten minutes," he whispered to the others. "Let's see how far we can get before they start." They all pulled out their anaesthetic dart guns. "Oh wait ! Make sure you can find this tunnel again. We've got to come back this way," warned Tom. Realising he was right, they all turned and tried to memorise the landmarks around the tunnel entrance. Things could get pretty hairy and they might have to find it in a hurry.

"OK ready ?" whispered Tom. The others nodded. "Let's go !"

They bent double and started to circle round the cavern, moving down to where they could see tunnel entrances. There were people walking about, putting together metal piping and piling up boxes of equipment. Two men appeared to be repairing what looked like some kind of drilling equipment. "Where do you suppose they would be keeping Dan ?" whispered Zoe. They all paused behind some large rocks and tried to work out where people were coming and going from. Just then, a man and woman came out of a tunnel entrance, holding sheets of paper. They were clearly in charge by the way the other people in the cave deferred to them. There was hand waving and instruction after which most of the people in the cavern moved out through a large entrance at the end.

"Let's try the tunnel they came out of," suggested Aneisha. They started to dash across the open floor of the cavern, trying to duck behind piles of boxes and equipment. A man spotted them and opened his mouth to call the alarm. Zoe shot him with a dart. He went glassy eyed and toppled to the floor without a sound. They managed to make the tunnel entrance without anyone else seeing them. They met a woman as they jogged through the tunnel. She looked startled for a second, before Aneisha darted her and she fell to the floor.

They carried on to a corner where they looked round and saw a labyrinth of tunnels leading all round them. "We don't stand a chance. We need to get someone to tell us the way or find a map," complained Aneisha. "We could spend all night searching this place." Just then, there was a roaring noise and a low pitched rumbling which vibrated through the rock they were standing on. "It's started," hissed Aneisha.


	10. Chapter 10

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. **

_They carried on to a corner where they looked round and saw a labyrinth of tunnels leading all round them. "We don't stand a chance. We need to get someone to tell us the way or find a map," complained Aneisha. "We could spend all night searching this place." Just then, there was a roaring noise and a low pitched rumbling which vibrated through the rock they were standing on. "It's started," hissed Aneisha._

"They've started breaking in. We've got to find Dan," said Zoe. "Wait, what's that ?" she said, pointing at a chart on the wall of one of the tunnels. They ran over to the chart. It appeared to be a map of the underground chambers and tunnels. All the wording was in French. They all searched the map frantically, trying to work out where a prison might be. Someone ran up the corridor towards them and stopped. Zoe turned and fired a sleep dart at them with barely a pause.

"Wait, what's this ?" asked Aneisha. "Little tiny rooms. They could be cells. What do you think ?" she asked.

"It's the best we've got. Let's give it a try," said Tom. They worked out where they were and how to get to the cells. They ran through the tunnels. They could hear shouting behind them in the distance, but they didn't meet many of the underground organisation. At last they turned a corner and saw metal bars in front of them. "Dan ! Dan, where are you ?" shouted Tom.

"I'm here !" shouted Dan's voice. They turned a corner and found him clinging to the bars of this cell door. "You came ! I'm so glad to see you," said Dan, grinning broadly. Zoe pushed her arms through the bars and hugged and kissed him. Dan hadn't forgotten that kiss. It felt twice as good now. Tom and Aneisha were wrestling with their backpacks. It was difficult to get things in and out and they needed the laser cutters. While they were pulling them out, footsteps sounded, coming down the corridor. Zoe whipped round with her dart gun in her hand. To her amazement Dan reached out and pulled her hand back before she could fire. She looked round angrily at him. "No, please, it's Victor," said Dan.

All the teens turned to see the startled old man standing looking at them. Victor saw the little dart gun in Zoe's hand and Dan holding her back. "Dan ? Amis ?" he asked.

Dan smiled at him. "My friends, yes," he said. "You should run. Erm, allez ?" he said, hoping he'd found the right word. Victor nodded, and set off back up the tunnel where he'd come from.

"Who was that ?" asked Aneisha, puzzled.

"Victor. He's been looking after me," said Dan. "The rest of them gave him a pretty hard time for it too," he added. "Can you get me out of here ?" Dan asked.

Tom waved his laser. "Laser cutter," he said triumphantly. "Stand back !" Tom and Aneisha started cutting through the bars of the door. Tom worked on one and Aneisha the one next to it. "I think we only need to cut through a couple," said Tom. "You should be able to squeeze through then." It took several minutes to get all the way through the thick metal. Dan tried to bend the bars, but they were much too solid.

"You'll have to cut me a hole," he said. Both Tom and Aneisha set to work above their first cuts. Just as they started Zoe noticed water starting to lap around their feet.

"There's water coming in," said Zoe. As she spoke, water started flooding in more rapidly. "It's going to flood the tunnels," said Zoe, sounding scared. Aneisha and Tom still had more cutting to do and the water was now up to their knees.

"Aneisha, you'll have to stop cutting and help Zoe get out of here," said Tom.

"I can't leave you and Dan here," said Aneisha, continuing to laser her metal bar.

"Aneisha, you have to go. Zoe can't swim well and this water is rising fast. You're going to have to help her get back to the escape tunnel," said Tom. "Give Dan the laser and get going. Now !" he shouted. Reluctantly Aneisha handed her laser to Dan, took Zoe's hand and headed through the deepening water in the tunnel.

"We'll see you at the tunnel entrance," called Aneisha. Dan and Tom carried on working through the bars. After only another minute, the water was up to their chests and the lasers were cutting under water.

"Can Zoe not swim ?" asked Dan, surprised.

"No, she said it wasn't a priority at SKUL," said Tom. "Not many outings to the local pool apparently."

"I hope they're alright," said Dan. He seemed more concerned with his team mates than himself. Tom thought this was odd considering he was locked in a rapidly flooding cell with no means of escape yet. At last, Tom made it through his bar. There was so much water now, he was being lifted off his feet. So was Dan. He was struggling to keep his laser in contact with the right part of the bar.

"Dan, I've got a face mask. Let me do it," said Tom. Dan turned off his laser and drifted up in the water. Tom pulled on his mask, turned on his head torch, took a deep breath and ducked down under the water. The bar was nearly cut through. He cut for as long as he could hold his breath and then surfaced for air. Gulping for air, he dived back down and managed to cut through the second bar. Tom bobbed back to the surface. "It's, … , done," he panted. Dan pulled himself down the metal bars and managed to haul himself through the narrow gap. Tom pulled him from the outside.

Dan surfaced, gasping for air, just as all the lights went out. They were floating around in the pitch dark. "It's freezing !" said Dan. "We've got to get out of here. Can you r r remember the w way, Tom ?" he asked.

"I think so. Follow me," said Tom. He set off along the tunnel doing the front crawl. Dan followed, but he wasn't as strong a swimmer as Tom and Tom had to slow a little to let him keep up. They were now only a couple of feet from the roof of the tunnel. Tom hoped they could get out before the tunnel completely filled with water. It was going to be pretty tight.

The two girls had struggled to make their way back through the flooded tunnels. By the time they reached the entrance to the large chamber they were having to swim. At least Aneisha was swimming. Zoe was thrashing along rather ineffectively. Aneisha spotted a couple of large plastic containers floating past. She splashed out and grabbed them, bringing them back to Zoe. "Here, grab hold of these handles and use them as floats," she said, thrusting them into Zoe's hands. "Just kick with your legs." Zoe did as she was told and with the extra bouyancy, now managed to make some progress.

Looking out across the large cavern space, Aneisha could no longer see any of the piles of boxes and equipment. The cavern was now deep water. It looked like it was swirling round with currents and eddys. This could be pretty risky. The water must be pouring in from the surrounding cave systems. The SWAT teams must have breached some of the rock damming the water out of the underground maze being used by the gang. There was no point waiting for things to get better. They had to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Aneisha grabbed some rope out of her backpack and tied one end round her waist. She tied the other end round Zoe's waist. "Right, come on. Kick like you're knocking out Dan," ordered Aneisha.

"Hey !" complained Zoe, laughing in spite of herself. Aneisha had already set off across the water. She was doing a breast stroke and keeping her head above water, to watch out for obstacles. Zoe just kicked her legs as hard as she could to try to keep up. Half way across they were caught in a fierce cross-current which knocked them off course some way, before they were able to continue in a straight line again. It felt like they were doing a mad triathlon trying to reach the other side of the cavern. At last they reached the other side. Aneisha grabbed the wall and pulled an exhausted Zoe in behind her. "Come on, we can pull ourselves along now," she said. The two girls pulled themselves along on hand holds on the cave wall, until finally they reached the entrance to the narrow tunnel. They pulled themselves up to the entrance, then sat and looked back across the cavern. Where were the boys ? There was no sign of them. The water looked as if it was getting deeper.

"Where are they ?" asked Zoe. Aneisha looked down at the deepening water. If the boys didn't get there soon, they would have to leave or risk drowning themselves. She truly hoped it didn't come to that !


	11. Chapter 11

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. **

"_Where are they ?" asked Zoe. Aneisha looked down at the deepening water. If the boys didn't get there soon, they would have to leave or risk drowning themselves. She truly hoped it didn't come to that !_

Oscar sat in a black communications van, holding a mental image in his head of all the activities taking place that night. It took fierce concentration. Fortunately his language skills were almost second nature so it required little effort to translate all the commands and messages for the different teams. The assault on the caverns had been successful, but the teams were reporting flooding in some of the tunnels. This had made most of the criminal gang run for the exits into the hotel, where the military teams were waiting for them. One after another they were picked off, handcuffed and taken out to waiting prison vans. They were literally flushing them out. The only problem, which Oscar had to push to the back of his mind, was that the rescue team was still underground.

Dan was struggling with the cold and the fear of swimming in the dark, enclosed space. Tom's head torch was bobbing around ahead of him, and he had to focus on it to keep himself going. The water continued to rise until he was occasionally banging his elbows off the tunnel roof. "Dan ! Nearly ! There !" panted Tom ahead of him. Dan didn't have the breath to reply. He squinted as Tom's torch shone directly into his face. Tom was obviously checking he was still there.

Dan felt a current starting to build up, pushing him backwards. The water had to be flowing into the narrow gap ahead of them. This had to mean they were near the cavern entrance, but it made it much harder to make progress. Now he was sometimes banging his head on the roof of the tunnel. "Grab my ankle !" shouted Tom. Tom had rolled over and was holding on to the tunnel roof with his hands. "Use your feet to push against the walls," shouted Tom. Dan grabbed Tom's ankle and pressed his feet against the sides of the top of the tunnel. This stopped him being pushed backwards. It also meant his face was up in the remaining air pocket. He began walking along the tunnel walls. Tom was pulling himself along with his hands. Between them they managed to force their way through the current and out into the cavern. By the time they forced their way around the edge of the tunnel entrance, there were only a few centimetres of air space left at the top of the tunnel.

The two boys rested against the cavern wall for a moment, trying to get their breath back. Tom looked out across the cavern and saw two tiny dots of light in the distance. That had to be the girls. "Dan !" he said, pointing to the lights. Dan looked and nodded his understanding. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering with the cold. Tom wondered why Dan was so badly affected and then mentally kicked himself. Of course idiot ! Dan wasn't wearing a wetsuit. He must be absolutely frozen. They had to get moving or Dan might be overcome by the cold. "Come on ! We need to move. The water's still rising," said Tom. Tom struck out across the flooded cavern, doing a steady breast stroke. Dan followed.

Tom had to slow his pace when he realised he was pulling ahead of Dan. There were fierce currents in the middle of the underground lake, swirling waters and small whirlpools. Dan swam towards the dots of light in the distance. He seemed to be swimming forever, and the dots didn't seem to get any closer. He was feeling sleepy and confused. Suddenly there were lots of lights shining in his eyes. Hands had grabbed hold of his sleeves and were pulling him along. "Dan ! Come on ! You can do it !" said Aneisha's voice. He pulled himself back to reality to find Tom and Aneisha towing him towards the rock wall.

"Dan ! Oh thank goodness !" cried out Zoe's voice. Zoe. Her kiss. Dan wanted to feel that kiss again. Dan reached out and grabbed hold of the wall. His hands felt numb. The others pulled him to the entrance of a tunnel, which we could see by the lights of their torches. Zoe disappeared into the tunnel. Aneisha pulled him up the rocks while Tom pushed him from behind. He followed Aneisha into the tunnel, looking at her bobbing light in front. It was hard work squeezing his shoulders through the narrowest gaps, but finally he pulled out into open air. Several pairs of hands helped him down to the ground. There were more people.

Tom pulled himself out of the narrow tunnel with relief. The two navy men were checking over Dan, who looked exhausted and dazed. He had cuts on his hands which were bleeding. One of the navy men pulled out a spare pair of gloves and pulled them on to Dan's hands. Dan didn't seem to be able to help him. He was moving very sluggishly. "He is very cold ! We need to get him into the warm, as quickly as possible," said the lead navy man urgently, strapping a mask onto Dan's face, kneepads on his legs and a hard hat on to his head. "Come !" he ordered.

The men picked up their air cylinders and strapped them on. The lead man took Zoe and Aneisha with him. The second man took Dan and Tom. They walked down into the water, sucking on their air valves. Tom wondered if Dan would be able to understand what he had to do. Luckily, Dan seemed to follow where they went. The navy man had to grab Dan's arm and pull him along by the end of the tunnel. Tom pushed from behind as well as he could. It seemed even further on the way back. The underwater section lasted forever. Tom was hugely relieved to be out of it. One of the navy men put his air cylinder down and pulled Dan's arm over his shoulder. The boy was staggering around, having difficulty finding his footing in the dark.

There was no talking on the long hard slog back to the cave entrance. By the time they got to the ladders, they were exhausted. The navy man gently rested Dan against the cave wall. Dan sat limply in exhaustion. The second navy man started up the ladder, leaving his air cylinders behind. The first navy man told Zoe to follow him. She wanted to stay with Dan, but the man shook his head. "We will have to lift him on a stretcher. You cannot help with this. Go up and get changed into warm clothes. All of you !" ordered the man. Reluctantly they obeyed. As Tom climbed out, a team of cave rescue people were lowering a stretcher on ropes, from a pulley system, down into the cave entrance.

Frank met the teens, hugging them in delight. "Well done team ! I was getting a bit worried," admitted Frank. "You'd better get changed and warmed up," he said, pointing them towards the group's van. The three hurriedly changed into their normal clothes and came back out. They arrived just in time to see Dan being lifted over the cave rim, strapped tightly to a stretcher. The cave rescue team picked him up and carried him straight to a waiting ambulance. The teens were each handed a hot drink while they waited. When they had finished their drinks, the ambulance doors opened again and a paramedic waved Frank over. They spoke and then the doors closed and the ambulance drove off.

"Frank ! Is he alright ?" asked Zoe.

Frank held up his hands as they all started towards him. "Dan is going to be fine. They want him to spend the rest of the night in hospital. He's got mild hypothermia and he's exhausted. You can see him in the morning after you've had a good night's sleep," said Frank. "Ah, no arguments. Come on !" he insisted.

Reluctantly the three agents turned to go. "Oh, wait. We need to say thankyou," said Aneisha. The three turned and went back to shake the hands of the two navy men who had guided them. They smiled and accepted the young agents' thanks.

"Your friend will be fine. Good luck !" said the navy men, waving them goodbye.

Frank took the three exhausted teens back to the hotel and told them to go to sleep. He assured them that Dan would be back with them the next day, ready to travel home.

In his hotel room, Mr. had been dozing on and off between the shouts, bangs and other noises going on in the hotel. At last the phone supplied by the mysterious young agent rang. He grabbed it. It sounded like Mme. Renard had done the same, as they both spoke simultaneously.

"Hello, Mr. McNab and Mme. Renard ?" said Oscar's voice. "I am very pleased to say that our operation has been a success. We have apprehended nearly all of the criminal gang operating within this hotel and we have recovered Daniel Morgan. He is safe and has been taken to hospital. He was cold and exhausted so it was thought best if he be cared for tonight. We promise he will be returned before you travel home tomorrow."

"Oh, thank goodness !" whispered Mr. McNab. He could hear Mme. Renard murmuring something similar on her phone.

"I will see you tomorrow. Thankyou for your cooperation. The hotel will be clear for you tomorrow morning," Oscar assured the two teachers. They thanked him, and he rang off. Everything in the hotel had quietened down now and everyone was finally able to get off to sleep.

Frank called in at the hospital to check on Dan. He was lying half asleep in bed, wrapped in some kind of warming blanket. His hands were both bandaged and his face was ashen. Dan opened his eyes and looked at Frank as he came up to the bed. "It's good to see you again Dan," said Frank quietly.

Dan swallowed and whispered. "Frank. There was an old man, called Victor. He looked after me. He took a big risk. Is he alright ?" asked Dan, looking worried.

Frank wasn't entirely surprised to find Dan worrying about someone else. He smiled at Dan and promised he would check up on Victor for him, and see that he was alright. This seemed to be what was keeping Dan awake because he immediately fell asleep after Frank made his promise.


	12. Chapter 12

**It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. OK, It's the last chapter. Hope you liked the story.**

_Dan swallowed and whispered. "Frank. There was an old man, called Victor. He looked after me. He took a risk. Is he alright ?" asked Dan, looking worried._

_Frank wasn't entirely surprised to find Dan worrying about someone else. He smiled at Dan and promised he would check up on Victor for him, and see that he was alright. This seemed to be what was keeping Dan awake because he immediately fell asleep after Frank made his promise. _

The next day, everyone overslept. Mr. McNab's alarm went off at the set time, but he hammered it into silence and went back to sleep. It didn't matter because they didn't have to leave until midday. When everyone finally surfaced for a late breakfast, the two teachers gave everyone the good news. A new set of staff seemed to be running the hotel, and the school group were served a wonderful breakfast. Zoe, Tom and Aneisha wasted no time tucking into the food. They were hungry after their night's exertions.

There was a buzz of anticipation amongst the students. The talk was all about the noises and shouting from the previous night. It sounded like nobody had been able to get to sleep until the racket subsided. Mr. McNab came over to Tom and asked him if he would find a set of clothes for Dan. The special agent had asked them to provide some for him. Then he asked Tom if he could start packing Dan's remaining things, because he didn't know what time he would be returning to the group. He might not have time to pack his own things.

Oscar was busy that morning. He'd asked Mr. McNab to get a set of clothes for Dan. Frank had to return to the school and he couldn't be seen by the teachers in France. It would have blown his cover. Frank had told him about Dan's concern about Victor. Oscar travelled first to the holding cells where the KORPS agents were being kept in isolation from each other. He spoke to the French officers guarding the agents and asked if he could speak to the old man. They brought Victor out in handcuffs to an interview room. The old man looked enquiringly at Oscar.

"A friend of mine asked me to check you were alright," said Oscar in French. The old man looked surprised.

"Dan ? Dan is a spy isn't he ?" asked Victor.

Oscar smiled. There was no point in trying to cover for Dan now. "Yes he is. He was supposed to be on a holiday with the school though. I guess he couldn't help himself. Naturally nosey," joked Oscar. This made the old man grin.

"He was a nice lad anyway. Is he alright ?" asked Victor.

"He is now," said Oscar. "He got hypothermia swimming through the flood waters and he's a bit knocked about, but he's going to be fine. He should be going home with the other students today. He was worried about you and asked us to check up on you. He said you looked after him and he's very grateful," explained Oscar.

The old man looked touched. "Well, I am fine. They said I will spend some time in prison. I'm too old for this game. I want to go home now. Tell the lad I am fine, and good luck. Also, you can tell him he is rubbish at cards," said the old man with a frown. The big grin afterwards gave him away though. Oscar could see how Dan had grown to like the old boy. Oscar and Victor shook hands and Oscar left.

Oscar's next trip was the to the hotel to collect the clothes Tom had gathered for Dan. Then he drove to the hospital. Dan was sitting in bed trying to eat a tray full of food with bandaged hands. He was starving and was finding it frustrating trying to keep hold of his cutlery. He looked up when Oscar came in with a carrier bag full of clothes. Oscar threw himself into a chair by the bed and smiled at Dan.

"Hello Dan. We haven't met. I'm Agent Oscar Cole. I used to work for Frank. Frank's had to go back home. He can't be seen here. I've got you a set of clothes. Tom put them together for you," he explained.

"Oh, Hi," said Dan. "Are you the guy who speaks all the languages ?" he asked.

"Yes, that's me," agreed Oscar, holding out his hand. Dan shook hands with him. "Oh, and I had a word with your friend Victor this morning," he added.

"Is he alright ? Are they treating him OK ?" asked Dan. "He was really good to me and the others gave him a hard time for it," he explained.

"He's fine," said Oscar. "He wished you good luck and he said you're rubbish at cards," he said deadpan.

Dan looked startled, and then burst out laughing. "I'd say he's a rotten cook, but he isn't. I wish I could speak French properly, and then I could speak to him," he said.

"Well, you've got plenty of time to learn some," said Oscar. "Now you've got a reason to learn, it will probably make more sense," he added.

Dan nodded. It would be nice to be able to speak to Victor properly. Maybe he would do that.

"How are you feeling now ?" asked Oscar.

"Oh, mostly just hungry and stiff," said Dan. "I'm fine. They said I can go home today," he said. Oscar looked closely and saw the dark rings under Dan's eyes. He looked tired and pale and there was a mark on the side of his face.

"I'll drive you back to the hotel when you get released," promised Oscar. "I'm going to get a drink. Do you want anything ?" he asked.

"No thanks. I'm fine," said Dan. He carried on eating his food while Oscar left to get himself a drink and snack.

An hour or so later, Dan was discharged from hospital. He sat in the back of a car with Oscar while they were driven back to the hotel. Oscar wasn't surprised when Dan fell asleep, but Dan was completely disorientated when he woke up outside the hotel. He got out of the car and was immediately swamped by his friends who had rushed out to greet him. Zoe gave him a big hug and kiss. Tom and Aneisha also gave him a quick hug before the rush of all his classmates to see him again. Dan was surprised at how pleased they all were to see him again. Even Mr. McNab was shaking Oscar's hand and thanking him for getting Dan back for them. Oscar looked a little put out and said that he only had a small role and that there were other people who deserved much more thanks than him. He looked meaningfully at Tom, Aneisha and Zoe when he said this. Fortunately, Mr. McNab wasn't paying close enough attention to wonder what he meant.

Seeing how tired Dan looked, Mr. McNab told the rest of the class to leave Dan alone and let him go up to his room to finish his packing. Dan went up with Tom, Aneisha and Zoe. "Where are your clothes ?" asked Aneisha.

"Oh, they were all torn, so I threw them away," said Dan, flopping down on to his bed. He looked at his bag which was nearly full. "Did you do that for me Tom ?" asked Dan. When Tom said he did, Dan thanked him for the help. Dan slumped a little on his bed. The strain of the last few days was now starting to hit and he felt shattered.

"Why don't you lie down for a bit," suggested Aneisha. "You look all in. We don't leave for another hour and your stuff is all packed anyway."

Dan lay down on his bed. "Thanks," he said.

"That's alright," said Aneisha, looking surprised.

"No, I mean all of you. Thanks for getting me out," said Dan quietly. He dozed off before Mr. McNab came into the room. Mr. McNab saw Dan sleeping peacefully and noticed how pale and drawn he looked.

"He doesn't look too good does he ?" he whispered to the others. They shook their heads.

"I think he just needs rest," whispered Aneisha. "It's a pity there's nowhere on the coach he can lie down."

"Well, that's not strictly true," said Mr. McNab. "If we clear the back seats of bags, he could lie down there. It's not really allowed, but I think in this case, we might make an exception," he added.

By the time they were ready to leave, a dazed Dan was helped on to the coach and told to lie across the back seats. They managed to do up a couple of seat belts around him, before he was asleep again. On the ferry he drew a few curious glances as he slept in a seat, his hands still bandaged, being guarded by a determined Zoe. They woke him up to eat some sandwiches before getting back on the bus for more sleep. Dan looked surprised when he got off the coach at St. Heart's. He looked at the others, confused.

"You slept your way home," laughed Aneisha.

"Oh, sorry," said Dan. Zoe wrapped her arms around him.

"Doesn't matter," she said. "Welcome home."

Dan was taken home by his relieved parents. The others were collected by happy families and taken home. Mr. McNab decided he needed a holiday after all the excitement. He wondered how many forms he had to fill in. They'd wait.

In the following weeks, Aneisha couldn't help noticing that Dan was paying a lot more attention to his French lessons than before. She wondered what had made him take an interest. Perhaps meeting Oscar had made him want to improve his language skills.

It was a couple of weeks before Dan felt confident enough to attempt what he had been working towards. He sat in the library in a study break with a clean sheet of paper in front of him, his French dictionary, his French study book and a phrase book from the school library. He chewed the end of his pen and thought carefully. Then he wrote, "Cher Victor, j'espere que vous allez bien."

The End


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